Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To mark with stains; discolor; spot.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To stain.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
mark with stains;discolour ;spot .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From be- + stain.
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Examples
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In the time of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn wished to give the post of abbess to a friend, but King Henry had scruples on the subject, for the proposed abbess had a somewhat shady reputation; he wrote, "I would not for all the gold in the world clog your conscience nor mine to make her a ruler of a house, which is of so ungodly a demeanour, nor I trust you would not that neither for brother nor sister I should so bestain mine honour or conscience."
From John O'Groats to Land's End Robert Naylor
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